The Ottawa Septic System Office is the regulator for private sewage systems within the City of Ottawa. Our role is to enforce any rules & regulations defined by provincial law as stipulated in the Ontario Building Code.

Why is a septic system covered under the Ontario Building Code?

The Building Code Act defines a sewage system as a “building” and as such, a sewage system that is discharging effluent onto the surface of the ground, or has not been maintained or operated in accordance with the Ontario Building Code, is determined to be an unsafe "building."

The Ottawa Septic System Office is involved when:

• Building a new home/building that is not serviced by City sewer or water
• Renovating your current home – especially when adding bedrooms, more plumbing fixtures or finished floor area in excess of 15% of the current foot print
• Replacing an aging system, that may have already exhausted its life span
• Altering or remediating any part of the tank or leaching bed due to accidental interference (i.e., digging a hole to install a deck post, large calliper tree)
  • Failing system that permits raw sewage to exit directly to the surface (i.e., leak in tank, pipe/chamber in bed that is blocked/crushed preventing effluent from tank to flow into bed